Witcher and Hunter
by keihra93
Summary: Drawn through a portal once more, the Witcher has found his way back to the New World and back into the life of Sesha. But the portal that brought him to the New World has closed, leaving him stranded until another opens. What will he do to pass the time until that day comes? Will Sesha learn something new from the Witcher, even be of help? Set after in game crossover with Leshen.
1. Chapter 1

Sesha was just like any other hunter in Astera, at least in the beginning. She had come to the New World with the Fifth Fleet, as part of the A-List hunters and handlers, and she had quickly made a name for herself. She became the pride and joy of the Commission, venerated to their "Sapphire Star" in recognition for her skills as a hunter- as well as her determination and strength of will to overcome any and all obstacles. Everything seemed normal, as much as it could be in a new environment.

That is until they day random portals started opening up and new strange creatures appeared that were not of this world. That was when she met the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia.

He was a strange man, human by all appearances- save his eyes, which were yellow with slitted pupils. He was a warrior, capable of wielding weapons of different kinds- from bladed to magik- and Sesha admired him. When he came through the same portals that brought the strange creatures to the New World, he had insisted that he take care of the issue himself. Sesha wanted to help, but Geralt was right and she'd be of no help to him directly. So, while he tracked the creature called "Leshen", Sesha did what she could to aid him and cleared out any monsters that could get in his way. Then, when she had done all that she could, she busied herself with other work for the Commission while waiting for word that the Leshen had been dealt with. Once word finally came, she was already off on another assignment. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn't say goodbye and thank him for his assistance, so she sent her regards with the others before heading off.

Not a day went by after that, however, where she didn't wonder what Geralt was up to- if he even made it back to his own world.

One day while she was patrolling the Ancient Forest, she pulled out the runestone that Geralt had left for her and touched it lightly. It was warm, humming with the fire magik of the Witcher's world. She smiled, silently thanking Geralt for such a precious and valuable gift as she slipped back beneath her shirt. When her handler had given it to her, she had taken it to the workshop and asked the smiths to make a pendant setting for the runestone. Ever since then, she had worn the runestone around her neck and found it to be a bit of a good luck charm of sorts.

As she continued her patrol, she sensed something strange, though where the feeling was coming from she could not tell. She searched through the forest, in case the source was there, but found nothing and soon the feeling vanished.

'That's really strange... I wonder what that was...'

Shrugging, she made her way back to Astera to make her report. But what she discovers upon her return home was not what she was expecting.

* * *

Geralt of Rivia had indeed made it home to his own world. He went back to his normal life, but he couldn't get the hunter from the other world out of his head. There was just something about her that kept drawing his mind to her. He had never seen her in action, but he had seen her handiwork and admired her results.

He wasn't sure how long had passed since returning to his own world, but one day out of nowhere another portal appeared and his query ran into. Disregarding his own discomfort with portals, he followed after his query- a gargoyle- and found himself in an unfamiliar territory filled with giant silvery crystals. He searched through the area, finding the tracks of the gargoyle rather quickly. He followed them down into a section of the new territory filled with lava pits, but lost track of the creature when a strange looking giant fish type creature jumped out of the lava and started roaming the area.

Geralt knew he was not going to be able to do anything about the gargoyle or the strange lava fish until he knew where he was and what he was dealing with, so he turned back and searched the new territory for any signs as to where he had landed. He even tried searching for the portal that brought him there, but he found that it had closed and he was trapped with no way to return.

Eventually, he came across a campsite stocked with weapons and ammunition, along with some provisions. He searched through the stockpile and was able to find a map. Scanning it, he recognized some of the names on the map and knew exactly where he had ended up. He took the map with him, gathered enough provisions to get him to his destination, and followed the path out of the new territory and onward to one that was more familiar to him.

It did not take him long to reach his destination and he was greeted with warm smiles as people welcomed him back. He looked around for the person in charge- getting directions from on of the market vendors- and when he found him, he had to chuckle a bit at the mild surprise the man had when Geralt approached him.

"Master Witcher, you've returned."

"It would seem so, Commander."

"What brings you back to the New World?"

"I was tracking a creature called a gargoyle, followed it through a portal and landed in some place called the Elder's Recess. Lost track of it in the lava pits when some kind of giant fiery fish looking monster jumped up from the lava."

"That would be a Lavasioth. Those lava pits and the Elder's recess are home to much more than that, however. You were lucky not to run into anything else."

"I needed more information before I could proceed further, and since the portal I came through closed behind me, I figured I'd come straight here once I knew where I had ended up."

The Commander processed the information and nodded. "I see. Well, you are welcome to stay in Astera as long as you need. We will try to find a way to reopen the portal, or at the very least perhaps we could lend some assistance with this 'gargoyle'."

"Perhaps, but clearing out that lavasioth as you call it should be sufficient enough."

"Understood. I would suggest waiting until Sesha returns from her patrol."

"Sesha?"

"That's right, you never got her name, did you?" The Commander chuckled. "With everything going on, there wasn't much time for that, I suppose."

"No, there wasn't."

"Commander, reporting in."

The Commander and Geralt turned to find a young woman dressed in a standard bone armor set coming up the stairs to the war table.

"Ah, Sesha, welcome back. I trust that you remember Geralt, our Witcher friend?"

Geralt watched as the young woman removed her bone helm and saw the surprise in her brilliantly teal eyes. "Hunter, good to see you again." he said, dipping his head in greeting.

"And you, Witcher." She turned to the Commander. "The Ancient Forest is clear and quiet for now."

"Good. That frees you up for a new assignment, then. The Witcher followed a creature called a 'gargoyle' through a portal and tracked it to the lava pits in the Elder's Recess. However, it would seem that a Lavasioth has proven to be problematic. I need you to accompany the Witcher back to the Elder's Recess and clear the path for him. And provide any further assistance he made need, as well."

"Understood, Commander." She looked back to Geralt. "I'll meet you by the armory on the second level. Your gear looks like it could use a bit of a tune up, so I suggest you speak with the Second Fleet Master before we head out." She looked back to the Commander. "Sir, if there's nothing else?"

"You are dismissed. And good luck, Sesha."

Sesha nodded and hurried to the lift, taking it all the way to the living quarters stairwell. She made her way to her room, changed out of her bone armor and into her Lavasioth armor- grabbing her Water Glaive and whatever potions and provisions she needed. She made her way over to the armory and found the Witcher waiting by the gate for her.

"Ready to go?"

"Whenever you are."

"Then let's head out."


	2. Chapter 2

Geralt and Sesha didn't really say a word as they travelled to the Elder's Recess, but he was intrigued by the armor she had chosen.

"What kind of armor is that?"

Sesha offered him a smile, her hand resting on her helm as it bounced at her hip. "It's Lavasioth armor. When you slay a monster, any monster really, you can carve certain materials from them like carapaces, bones, fins, fangs, or scales and use them with other materials that you can mine to craft armor and weapons. When you use materials carved from the monsters, you gain their elemental resistance." She gestured to her glaive. "My glaive, for example, is a water element based weapon, using materials like a torrent sac- which stores copious amounts of water- that help give it that elemental boost. With glaives, you also have kinsects, like this little beauty here." She pointed to the little moth like creature sitting at her arm. "This is a species of kinsect called Whispervesp that falls under the mauldrone family branch. It's been bred as a water element kinsect and releases a dust cloud with healing properties. They're useful for glaive wielders like myself, whether they have a healing ability or they release a dust cloud that is combustible."

"How does it work?"

"The glaives are equipped with nectar. You basically just point the glaive at your target, fire off a bit of nectar, and it sticks to target- which helps the kinsect find them. Once they do, they not only attack the target but also release their dust cloud."

"I assume that each kinsect has its own type of dust cloud?"

Sesha nodded. "There are two main branches: culldrone and mauldrone. Depending on which branch you breed them from, the kinsects could use anything from healing to paralytic to blast type dust clouds. Some of them are even bred to aid in severing monster parts. It really just depends on what the individual hunter wants and needs."

"Given your knowledge, it would seem that the glaive is your preferred weapon."

Sesha nodded. "I've trained with other weapons, knowing how some work better for certain assignments than others, but I find I am most comfortable with the glaive." She smiled as her kinsect seemed to hum. "Besides, kinsects make good companions."

Geralt watched her as she took a finger and gently stroked the Whispervesp's spine. The kinsect seemed to respond similarly to how he had seen cats respond to being pet. "You're quite the intriguing one, Hunter."

Sesha looked up at him, standing half a head shorter than him. "'Sesha' will be fine, Witcher." she said with a smile. "'Hunter' is a bit too formal for my taste. Besides, if you're going to be stuck her for awhile, you may as well get to know some of the people back in Astera."

"Fair enough. You may call me by name, as well, then."

"Deal."

A moment or two more of silence followed after, until Sesha looked at Geralt to ask about the gargoyle.

"It's a creature created by animating stone statues and infusing them with lava using fire magik."

"Similarly to how you use Igni?"

Geralt nodded. "Yes."

"Well, then it should be no trouble. Lavasioth uses a hardened lava shell as armor. Break that and it's weak to water, thunder, and ice type elements. I would assume that it'd be no different with a gargoyle."

"Perhaps. That remains to be seen."

"Lavasioth are super aggressive and attack indiscriminately until the 'threat' has been eliminated. Maybe we'll get lucky and the gargoyle has already been killed by the Lavasioth."

"We will find out soon enough."

* * *

It did not take them long to reach the Elder's Recess and Sesha was able to pick up the Lavasioth's tracks with no trouble. Before they went down to the lava pits, though, she handed Geralt a cool drink before gulping down her own.

"What is this?"

"It's called a cool drink. It helps regulate your body temperature when you're in areas of extreme heat. We have hot drinks, too, for cold regions."

"That is very useful." Geralt eyed the strange drink, then popped off the lid and drank it. It tasted stranger than it looked, but it could have been a lot worse. And it definitely would have come in handy the last time he was here.

"Alright, whenever you're ready, we should hurry to do what we came here to do before any elder dragons or other monsters that frequent this area decide to stop by."

"Elder dragons? Sounds fun."

Sesha smirked at that, rolling her eyes as she slid her helm over her thick, black braid. "Oh, they're _loads_ of fun. Come on, this way."

Geralt followed after Sesha as she tracked the Lavasioth an area near the lava pits.

"Lavasioth's weak spots are its head and belly, but it likes to dive into the lava and spring up wherever it can to catch you off guard." Sesha explained as spotted the monster in question swimming in the lava pits. She pointed to the smaller monsters curled up nearby. "Those are Gastrodons. They're similar to Aptonoths, but they're of the more grumpy variety, so watch your back."

"Understood." Geralt scanned the area for the gargoyle, his Witcher senses spotting its tracks as they glowed red. He followed the tracks until he spotted the gargoyle trying to hide among the walls near the ceiling of the cavern. "Up there. The gargoyle is still alive. Keep an eye out in case it tries to jump down on top of us."

Sesha glanced where he was looking, but to her the gargoyle was too well concealed. "That's good to know." She looked at him. "How about this, I'll take lead on the Lavasioth, you take lead on the gargoyle. Assist where needed?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Then let's go."

The Witcher and the hunter quickly sprang into action, trying to slay the Lavasioth before the gargoyle decided to join the party. Using the skills she had developed with the glaive, Sesha was easily able to avoid the Lava Wyvern's attack and land enough decisive blow to its "armor" to crack the shell and knock the monster off its feet. Geralt was able to come in and slash at its belly and along its throat, but it took a few rounds for the monster to finally perish. Once it had, Geralt kept an eye on the ceiling of the cavern and watched for the gargoyle as Sesha carved what she could from the Lavasioth.

"Did you find it again?"

Geralt nodded. "It's still there."

"I have an idea." Sesha handed him her glaive for a moment, showing him where the trigger was for the nectar chamber. "Aim the glaive at the gargoyle, then fire off a nectar shot. Once it makes contact, I'll have a flash pod ready to fire."

"A flash pod will do what?"

"It'll release a burst of light upon impact that stuns the creature. That should give us plenty of time to close in on it and take it out before it causes any further issues."

"Alright." Geralt did as she instructed, using his Witcher's senses to his advantage once more. As soon as he shot the nectar at the gargoyle, Sesha sent her Whispervesp into the air and readied her slingshot with a flash pod- firing it as soon as she saw where its mark was.

The gargoyle reacted to getting splattered with nectar, as Sesha expected, and when it started to move towards them it gave away its position. Then when Sesha fired the flash pod and it cracked open on the creature's face, the gargoyle reared in pain as the brilliant light blinded it- causing it to come crashing down from the ceiling.

Waiting a moment or two, Geralt handed Sesha back her glaive and approached the gargoyle cautiously. He wasn't sure if a fall from that height would kill it or not and he didn't want Sesha to get hurt if they were reckless.

Sesha followed behind Geralt, staying a good distance away just to be on the safe side. When she spotted the creature Geralt called a gargoyle, she was surprised to see that it really did look just like a stone statue of some grotesque creature. It had cracks and pieces chipped off from the fall, even a limb broken off.

"Is it dead? Or just playing dead?"

Geralt eyed it for a moment, then stepped back as the gargoyle opened its mouth- emitting a sickly colored gas. "Its breath is poisonous, be sure to avoid it at all costs."

Sesha nodded. "What do we do?" she asked, watching the creature get to its feet.

Geralt activated Quen- the sign for creating a protective field around the casting witcher that protects him from sonic waves and similar attacks. He made sure that it was large enough to protect Sesha, too. "It's slow, but that doesn't mean it's stupid. Just stay aware of your surroundings."

"Got it."

The gargoyle stomped, sending a shockwave outward, then grabbed bits of debris from when it had fallen and started hurling them at Geralt and Sesha. Sesha provided a distraction for Geralt to go on the offensive, keeping the gargoyle's attention on her. When it reached out to grab or swing at her, she launched herself into the air with her glaive and vaulted over the creature- being sure to get in a few strikes as she passed overhead. Luckily, the gargoyle had enough cracks and chips in itself from the fall that Sesha was able to get her water based attacks through to the creature's core- slowly but surely extinguishing its flame.

When Geralt noticed that its flame was finally fading, he went in for the final blow and shattered the gargoyle as its core cooled- making its body brittle from the temperature changes.

"Well, that was interesting." Sesha said, panting as her cool drink started to wear off. "It's dead this time, right?"

Geralt nodded, noticing that his cool drink was starting to wear off as well. "Yes."

"Good, then let's get the hell out of here before we start burning up."


	3. Chapter 3

Sesha led Geralt towards the eastern part of the Elder's Recess, stopping at the camp near where Nergigante liked to nest. She let the Whispervesp climb onto the glaive as she leaned it against one of the stockpile chests, then started stripping off her armor and pack.

"So, tell me something, Geralt."

Geralt looked over from where he had been observing the cave the campsite was set up within. "Hmm?"

"How'd you get back here? Can gargoyles open portals like Leshen?"

Geralt shook his head. "No. I followed the creature through a portal that led back to here. My best guess is that another Leshen is at work."

Sesha sighed, setting her things aside to air out a bit. "Great... Maybe that's what I was feeling earlier while I was out on patrol in the Ancient Forest." She walked over to the natural hot springs and lowered herself down, sighing in content. "Or maybe I was sensing the portal that brought you and the gargoyle here to the recess."

"Perhaps." Geralt replied, following suit.

Sesha leaned against the edge of the hot spring, eyes closed for a moment. She breathed in deeply, finding comfort in the minerally scent of the water. Like the sweet scent of the springs in the Ancient Forest or the pools of the Wildspire Waste, it told her that she had finished another assignment and was basking in the reward of a hard day's work.

Geralt joined Sesha in the hot springs, setting himself down across from her. He was surprised to find a hot springs when they had made their way into the camp and he was more than happy to enjoy it after the trouble the gargoyle and that Lavasioth had caused. As he sat there soaking, he looked up at the stalactites as he thought about how to proceed with his current predicament.

Sesha watched Geralt for a moment or two after he had joined her in the spring and wondered what was on his mind. "What are you thinking about?"

Geralt met her gaze as he answered, "Wondering what I'm going to do next. That portal back to my world closed and until another opens, I'm stuck here."

Sesha thought a moment. "Hmm... well, you could always join me and the other hunters in the meantime."

Geralt thought about her proposal.

"I mean, you'll have to clear it with the Commander, but you're a skilled fighter and after you helped us with the Leshen, I'm sure he'd be happy to have you."

"Work as a hunter, huh?"

"It'd be better than doing nothing, right?"

"That is true." Geralt had to smile at the idea of working as a hunter. It wouldn't be too different than what his current line of work was. "Alright, I'll talk to the Commander when we get back."

Sesha had to smile at that. "Good. It'd be nice to keep hunting with you."

"We do make a good team."

Sesha nodded, leaning back and closing her eyes. "That we do."

* * *

Sesha lay back on her bed roll after they had turned in for the night, hoping to get back to Astera come morning. It was fairly quiet save the Gloom Gekkos chittering to each other faintly along the cave walls. She glanced over at Geralt as he slept, noticing that he had scars peeking out from beneath his tunic. She herself had some above her right eye, courtesy of an encounter she had with a monster as a child.

'I wonder what his world's monsters are like...' she thought as she rolled onto her side, facing towards him. 'If they're anything like the nekker, Leshen, or gargoyle, I think I'd take our monsters over his any day.' Sighing, Sesha settled back down and closed her eyes to try and get back to sleep. She wondered if she could be partners with Geralt should the Commander accept him as a hunter and knew that regardless of the outcome, having Geralt of Rivia around Astera would be interesting to say the least.

As Sesha fell back asleep, curled up on her side beneath a blanket, Geralt found it hard to sleep and sat up. He watched Sesha for a few moments before getting back into his armor to explore a bit of the Elder's Recess.

After clearing out the Lavasioth and the gargoyle, the recess was fairly quiet save for the smaller creatures like Gastrodon or the Gajalaka that Sesha had pointed out to him. Making sure that he didn't get lost, Geralt went from each sector to get a better look at the environment.

'It's amazing that such a place exists.' Geralt thought as he touched the giant silvery crystals. 'It's so different than back home, yet so much remains the same- plenty of diversity in the people, the locations, and the creatures.'

He made his way through the entirety of the recess- save for an area passed a large river in a cave made up almost entirely of the crystals where he sensed an enormous amount of energy still lingering- and started making his way back to camp. When he climbed through the opening from the crystal nest where Sesha said an elder dragon called Nergigante typically lived, he walked down the slope into the camp and spotted Sesha stepping out of the tent.

"Everything OK?" she asked sleepily.

Geralt nodded. "Couldn't sleep, so I just went for a walk."

Sesha rubbed her eyes and yawned. "OK... you had me worried for a moment there..." She noticed the look he had and tilted her head to the side. "You sure everything is OK?"

Geralt nodded again, going into the tent. "It's fine."

Sesha shrugged and followed him in, going and laying back down on her bedroll. "Try to get some sleep, alright? If you need a little help, there's a blue bottle in that bag over there with a sleep tonic. Just a small sip should do the trick."

Geralt looked to the bag she had pointed at, then back at her only to find her fast asleep once more and had to smile at that.

Slipping out of his armor, he replaced the pieces before sitting on his bed roll. He watched Sesha for a moment before laying back himself and settling in- hoping that he wouldn't need the tonic's help.


End file.
